Anglo-Saxon Charm for Bees

We’re so accustomed to end rhymes in poetry (moon/June) that it seems odd to imagine another kind of poetry. If you've been following my Havamálseries, you won't find it odd at all. A millennium ago, the Anglo-Saxon folk of England wrote poetry that alliterates; that is, key words begin with the same sound (like 'bouncy baby boy').The writers made things a little easier on themselves by making any vowel alliterate with any other vowel.Each line of a poem is divided into two half lines. Each half line will have one word which alliterates with a word in the other half line.The underlined letters below show this pattern.

This charm against a swarm of bees has a couple of unusual aspects.First, the charm does not make them go away—often our first reaction to a swarm of angry bees!—but rather, calms them down. After all, bees were of great benefit to the Anglo-Saxons: their honey was the chief ingredient in mead.

Also, the charm asks for protection against 'the great tongue of a man' (micelan mannes tungan). This may refer to a sorcerer who has cast a spell stirring up the angry swarm in hopes of stealing the bees.This magician may be similar to the 'conjuring woman' or 'cunning man' mentioned in the Erce Earth Goddess charm -- in other words, an interfering rival.

Finally, the swarm is referred to as 'victorious women' (sigewif), as if the swarm were personified as goddesses or valkyries (the word 'victory' [sige] is often used in compound words relating to battle, the realm of the valkyries).

K. A. Laity is an all-purpose writer, medievalist, journalist, Fulbrighter, social media maven for Broad Universe, and author of ROOK CHANT: COLLECTED WRITINGS ON WITCHCRAFT & PAGANISM, UNQUIET DREAMS, OWL STRETCHING, CHASTITY FLAME, PELZMANTEL, UNIKIRJA, and many more stories, essays, plays and short humour. Find out more at www.kalaity.com and find her on Facebook or Twitter.